Survival
by Nrrrd-Grrrl-Meg
Summary: "I was the kid destined for the Bloodbath, another blip on the radar, another life cut short. District Ten doesn't breed victors, we breed farmers and cattle ranchers, milkmaids and mothers." - Welcome to the 54th Annual Hunger Games
1. The 53rd Annual Hunger Games

**Survival – The 54th Annual Hunger Games**

"_It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called: Life." _

_Terry Pratchett_

**Juni Bevilacqua – District Ten**

**Prologue Pt. 1 – The 53rd Games**

"You can't run forever, coward!"

The painful wheezing in my chest brings truth to his words, as does the strain in my thighs and calves. My legs threaten to turn to jelly at any moment and the bitter, blasting wind keeps me from running at full speed, even if I had the energy to do so. Sooner, rather than later, I'm going to have to turn and face him; the ax-wielding Volunteer from District Seven. A monster who's name I never had the pleasure of learning and now, he's going to lead me to my death.

How did it ever come to this? I was the kid destined for the Bloodbath, another blip on the radar, another life cut short. District Ten doesn't breed victors, we breed farmers and cattle ranchers, milkmaids and mothers. We slaughter cows and chickens, not other children. And yet, my hands aren't clean, my soul is now tainted and soiled. I didn't make it this far due to skill or athletic prowess, but by luck and cowardice. I am here, thanks to the deaths and sacrifices of twenty-two other children.

The deaths of my allies.

It was my idea to bring them together. Nausica from District Four was first, cast out of the Careers simply for being Reaped. To them, it didn't matter that she had trained her whole life for this moment, no, it was that single word that kept her from being the Career she was raised to be. Her own partner sold her up the river, refusing to vouch for her when the time came and ever rubbed it in her face when they replaced her with the same brute that is chasing me down now. Even now, I can't help by smile as I think of her seeking him out, trident in hand, laughing as she drove it through his back and pinned him to the cornucopia during the Bloodbath.

After I picked up Nausica, the rest fell into place. Maisie and Micah, siblings from the Grain District, came next, each with their own skills that meshed well with our own. They were the darlings of the Capitol, their tearful interviews brought down the house, as did their matching Training Scores. By the second day of training, we found a friend in Ravi, a thirteen year old from District Twelve that just wanted his death to mean something. At the last second, we picked up the final and most shocking piece of our gang, Lyja, the District Partner of the one trying to end my life now. She wanted to stick it to him for leaving her for the big guns and saw us as just the way to make that happen. We were the anti-careers, six tributes from five different walks of life, uniting together to show that even the Capitol can't keep us down. It surprised me that no one had ever thought to try this one before, but judging on how quickly things fell apart, I can see why.

As the gong sounded, it all went to hell in a hand-basket.

We lost Ravi to the bloodbath, pierced through the chest by a Career's spear and placing a sad and pathetic 24th overall. He was just a baby, the youngest of us all, and his life was snuffed out as if it meant nothing at all. The brother-sister combo from Nine came next; Maisie fell into a mine trap set by the techno-genius from Three just a day after the Bloodbath, her body exploding on impact. Micah walked off just a few hours later, refusing to take his weapon or say goodbye. His cannon sounded one day later and I can't help but believe he died at his own hands. Without his twin, he had nothing left in the world. Lyja's wound she gained by dueling with the girl from One soon turned infectious and I was forced to snuff her out myself, the sound of her begging has yet to leave my ears.

Of course, we weren't the only ones suffering from dwindling number. An even ten fell during the opening moments, including my own District Partner and the pair from Eleven, all allies under the age of fifteen. The sick bastard from Two met his end the same day as Micah and I can honestly say that I didn't feel the least bit guilty about smiling back at him. The last time I saw him, his saber was piercing through the chest of frail girl from Eleven and he his laughter echoed around me. The last of the proper Careers, the male from One, met his end just yesterday and I'm guessing it was thanks to the one chasing me now.

"It's only us left, coward. Fight me like a man."

He's right. It's now or never.

Seven stumbles back as I spin around, my hand tightly gripping the handle of my machete. His eyes flash with confusion; he never expected me to turn and fight him. To be honest, I didn't think I had it in me either, but then again, these Games have brought out a side of me I never thought existed. This is the boy that killed the closest thing I have ever had to a friend and was part of the group that made it their mission to slaughter as much as possible. I could still see Nausica, holding onto her insides as he stood above her, his ax dripping with her blood. The look on his face proved that he didn't feel the slightest bit of remorse.

No. He won't get the luxury of ending my life.

"That's right, I am a coward!" My voice cracks and forces itself out of my throat. "I wasn't supposed to make it this far, I wasn't supposed to live. But then again, neither were you. You think _they_ wanted us here? That we were their chosen ones? Look at us! We are kids, Seven. Just kids. And yet...here we are, so close to finishing this and instead, we make small talk."

"You're stalling, Ten," his voice wavers, just slightly and the ax twitches in his hand. "This is what they wanted all along. Careers, outer-district kids...it doesn't matter to them, never has. They just want a good show."

Now or never, Juni.

"I'm through giving them what they want. If you want this victory so bad, you can have it."

I barely register the guttural scream that escapes my lips, nor the scream that comes from his, as I drag the blade across my throat. The burning is like nothing I've ever felt and nothing I'd ever feel again. My legs finally give in and drop, the ground giving little comfort as the blood drains from my body. Tears and spots cloud my vision as I try to find something to focus on during my last moments. Anything to take away the pain that spreads through my body.

Jorja. Mama. Papa. I'm sorry, but I knew from the start that I wasn't going home. I'm a coward taking the coward's way out. If they make me a martyr, that's fine by me, but I'd rather my death mean absolutely nothing. Why should it shine brighter or have more meaning than Ravi's or Micah's or anyone of the other kids that feel before me? I'm nothing special, just another kid destined to die in The Hunger Games.

Nausica is waiting for me in the bright light. There is no longer a gaping hole in her stomach and everything is where it should be. She is no longer in any pain.

And neither am I.

* * *

**Well now, kiddies...this is my first time at the SYOT rodeo, but I've submitted to a ton of them. Hopefully you guys like what you see and submit some tributes. The bio template is on my bio, so feel free to submit. I'm going to try to take the best of what I am given and if I do not take your tribute, I'm sorry ahead of time. ****Once all the tributes are collected, I will update with the second half of the prologue and continue on from there. I am trying to have this story complete in 20 chapters, one every week. HOWEVER I do hold down a full-time job and have two kids that come first, so if I'm a little late, please don't complain. Life happens, guys. ;) **

**I would also like to dedicate this story ahead of time to the ever amazing Jabberjayheart for allowing me to swipe his story set up and inspiring me to even take a crack at something like this. Thanks, Sir Jabber of the Jays! And if you people reading this have no idea who this is, SHAME ON YOU! Leave my story and power-read through his TEN stories, then come back to me. His work is the best on here, I shit you not. **

**Good luck and enjoy this. **


	2. The Aftermath

**Survival – The 54th Annual Hunger Games **

"_The worst part of success is trying to find someone who is happy for you." _

_Bette Midler_

**Blight Saddler –** **Winner of the 53rd Hunger Games**

**Prologue Pt. 2 – The Aftermath**

_BOOM!_

Ten's cannon sounds as his body collapses on the ground, painting the clay beneath him a dark crimson. The copper eyes that once danced with a light now stare at me, bare and accusing, bringing with it the reality of another life lost. My body follows suit and I find myself on my knees, my ears filled with a sound I am not quite familiar with.

My own, anguished cries.

I crawl to his body, ignoring the rocks that embed themselves into my palms and it is still warm. His final words repeat in my head over and over, a vicious cycle, an endless loop and for a moment, I ponder following in his footsteps. Why give them a victor, a beacon of hope? It would be easier that way, to drag his machete across my throat and end my life in the same way he did. To take the coward's way out. This way, no one wins; not the districts that allow this to keep happening, nor the Capitol and their petty bets and gluttony. And especially, not Snow.

Alas, I am but a gutless little child, and I drop his weapon and rise. My name is announced as victor, but it barely registers. Nothing does; not the hovercraft coming down to collect Ten's body and not the one that comes for me. I am silent and reserved, different from the boy that volunteered to be here. Thankfully, no one says a word, leaving me alone inside my head.

It is days before anyone comes to see me. A mandatory one week stay in a Capitol hospital is thrust onto anyone that wins the games, regardless of injuries and mine is spent in solitude until day five when my mentor finally comes to see me. Her face is hardened, cruel. I was never her choice to come home, despite it being her job to see that it happened.

Lyja was Ivy's niece.

"Another Career victory for the Capitol." Her voice is frosty, at best. "There is nothing like giving them exactly what they wanted."

She mistakes my silence as a challenge.

"How could you let them murder her?" The frost melted just a bit, replaced with pain and remorse instead. "Her own ally...he killed her so she wouldn't hold them back."

The boy from Ten? So, his hands weren't as clean as I thought.

"You weren't even meant to be there." Her voice mimics the thoughts that have plagued my mind since I found myself raising my hand just a couple of weeks ago. "Braydon Sycamore should have gone in, his name was called. You had to fuck it all up."

This is true. It was my last year and with his name called, I was supposed to be safe. I had always planned on throwing myself a party if I made it through all seven years without being called, as morbid as that sounds. But in my family, it was never an option. I was not the first Saddler volunteer, but hopefully, with my win, I'll be the last one.

"For what it's worth," I begin, the words almost dying on my tongue. "I'm sorry about Lyja. I really am."

She scoffs, tears filling her hazel eyes. "Right. You're sorry. She's in a pine box, waiting to go back home to my brother and you're sorry. You're just sorry that you didn't get the credit for her kill."

With that, she is gone, leaving me alone with my thoughts once more. There is a hint of truth to her words, I am sorry that I didn't get credit for her kill. Lyja was obnoxious long before her name was called and a bully. She made my little half-brother's life a living hell in school and at the very least, I thought I could give him the satisfaction of knowing she would never hurt him again. I also didn't want to see Ten in the same boat I'm in now, dying with a murder on my soul.

Ivy would never understand why I did what I did; volunteering, joining the Careers. She has no idea the pressure placed on my shoulders, how my step-father would have kicked me out of the family had I not done this. Not satisfied with his own win twenty-some years ago, he has been forcing his will on the Saddler boy's lives to follow in his footsteps, as well as that of our paternal grandmother, District Seven's first victor. My older brothers, Cerese and Spruce, both fell into the same trap I did, only I returned home alive. Hell, I'm not even sure why Ivy is giving me such a hard time, Cerese was her district partner and she let him down. Why should I feel sorry for Lyja?

Because I'm not a monster. I was never like the other Careers, volunteering for glory and fame. I was broken long before I entered the games and volunteering was sort of my way out. Victory was never my goal in this, at least, not until I drove my ax into the chest of the bastard from Two and ended his reign of terror. He was my first murder, but certainly not my last.

Before long, I am sent back to my District where what remains of my family awaits. My house in our barely used Victor's Village is right next to my grandmother's, who is the first person to greet me. Her eyes that so match my own flash with pity and remorse and it's obvious that she blames herself for my predicament. My mother stays with me for the first few weeks, preparing my meals and leaving my side only to check on my half-siblings, Maple and Emerson as they stayed with their jackass father. Never once does she bring up the arena, never once does she question the large knife I sleep with under my pillow. Instead, I am treated like I'm five years old again and for a while, it's not that bad.

There is nothing like a mother's touch to bring the nightmares to an end, even for a little while.

My post-victory interview is pretty standard. Caesar grins away and I can't help but wonder if he has anything going on upstairs. I'm so distracted by his teeth-to-gum ratio and the canary yellow motif, that I miss most of his questions and come off as lumbering buffoon. Whatever. It's only when they being the recaps that I pay attention.

The recaps always focus on the final five, which starts by going over their placements by showing their Reapings. The silence on the screen behind me mixes well with the silence from the crowd, giving it all a surreal effect. The camera pans through thick smog, focusing a bit too long on the towering factories and similar-looking children, all lined in their pens like good drones. HELIX ELLISON, FIFTH PLACE appears on the screen, followed by the dark-haired techno-genius standing on stage, looking far removed from the confident trapster I had the luxury of not running into directly in the arena. It would have been a far different outcome for yours truly if I had. The scene changes, cutting to a sea of blue and fishing boats. My stomach flips as I see her name appear on screen, but I can't bring myself to look away. NAUSICA ODAIR, FOURTH PLACE. While Caspian Blue, like myself, chose to be in that arena, no one volunteered for beautiful sixteen year old girl. Her green eyes flash a defiant stare at those that allow her to walk to her death and for brief second, I catch the camera linger on a small boy, roughly three years old, crying on the sides of the pen. A sibling? I can only ponder as the screen changes once more, this time to the land of gems and gold. He is easy to catch in the crowd, proud and gorgeous. Multiple boys fall at his feet as he fights his way through the chaos and lands on stage, his luscious blonde hair and smile giving way to his name and placement. CARTIER VAN CLEEF, THIRD PLACE. All I can see is the fear in his eyes as vicious, sprightly colored birds peck his face, his screams echoing around me. His death was vile and painful.

The collective gasp of the crowd brings me back to reality as the last scene begins, the one I have dreaded the most. I have to admit, the scenery is breathtaking, the cows grazing in the fields, the large corn stalks, the mountains...it is better than I had ever pictured it. Soon, olive-tinted children lined in pens replaces the beauty and the camera focuses on him, almost as if they expected his name to be chosen. He tries to run, almost hitting the barricade that surrounded the pens, but a Peacekeeper catches him by the cuff of his shirt. He looks much smaller on stage, despite standing next to a girl half his size.

JUNI BEVILACQUA, SECOND PLACE.

Tears pepper my eyes, blurring the chariot rides and my embarrassment at being dressed as a tree, and my first interview, where Caesar tries in vain to learn my reason for volunteering. No such luck, buddy! I'll take it to my grave!

Soon, they focus on the Bloodbath, which is a bit lackluster if you are trying to portray my highlights. Despite reaching the cornucopia first and getting my hands on the ax that stayed by my side until the bitter end, I did little else. Charged with guarding the supplies, no one dared to test the outer-volunteer with the near-perfect score of 10. Nausica gets one of the first kills, pinning Caspian to the cornucopia not far from where I stood before making off with the remaining members of her alliance. Cassius from Two's laughter can not be heard by the audience, but I can hear it in my nightmares and I know it was escaping his mouth as he racked up the kill count, ending the lives of five children, all under the age of fifteen. Of course he wouldn't go for someone that would pose a challenge, like the towering boy from Five, his cowardice overwhelming.

His death is shown once the Bloodbath faded away and I regret nothing. Especially not after I found him with his hand shoved down the frail little girl from Three's pants as she was pinned against a tree, crying for her mother. I have to hand it to the Capitol, they cut out the part with the girl and left only the violence, my ax slicing him open and ending him. Other deaths follow suit, like the exploding girl from Nine, her twin fighting with Morphling addict from Six, only to end up with his neck snapped. Juni's tears as he drove his machete through the chest of my district partner. It all ends too quickly for my liking, because what comes next is the nightmare I live with every single day.

"If you want this victory so bad, you can have it."

"NO!" My voice strains and cracks as he drives the machete across his neck. A few members of the audience cry with me, most others gasp and turn away.

It is never the sick bastard from Two's face I see when I close my eyes. It isn't Nausica Odair's insides that cause me to leap from my bed, nearly slicing the face of mother as she attempts to calm me down.

It's his. Always his. His mop of red curls, the copper eyes. The smile he cut into his own neck that gave me the win.

Juni Bevilacqua.

Please...someone help me!

**Survival – The Fifty-Fourth Hunger Games**

**District One – Luxury**

Obsidian Lockett - 18

Versace LaGore - 18

**District Two – Masonry**

Ryder Rhodes – 18

Arianne Haskell – 18

**District Three – Technology**

Elias Auberon – 16

Tesla Farlane -17

**District Four – Fishing**

Orpheus Kallikrates – 18

Micky Holder – 18

**District Five – Power**

Lyle Ostero – 18

Verity Laraine – 17

**District Six – Transportation **

Dicky Howett – 13

Leila Siavash – 14

**District Seven – Lumber**

Tobias Mycroft – 18

Noely Eugenie – 17

**District Eight – Textiles**

Jarvis "Jalyssa" Sprence – 16

Hypatia Dawson – 15

**District Nine – Grain**

Chester Quaid – 15

Elvira Amaro – 14

**District Ten – Livestock**

Taurus Betail – 16

Irene Holleran – 18

**District Eleven – Argiculture **

Tarquin Derrein - 15

Isley Fontain – 15

**District Twelve – Coal**

Colliery Oread – 15

Illana Tivka -17

**Show of hands, kiddies...who saw the volunteer victor from Seven being Blight? Yes? No? **

**Anyways, sorry for the delay. I wasn't sure how to get this from my head to the computer and, well, yeah. I had to wait for all the tributes as well. The blog is also going to be launched with this chapter, so check it out. The link can be found on my bio or by going to...**

**survivalhungergames . Blogspot . Com **

**Of course, eliminate the spaces. **

**I'd love to get some feedback from those of you still around after waiting about a month (or, FOREVER in Fanfiction time) for the update. I'd like this feedback in form of answering questions. Or...question. **

_**Thoughts on the tributes of Survival, using the Blog as your basis?**_

**Sure, there isn't much to go on, but whatever. Have at it, people! **


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